Dead Life (Book 4) (4 page)

              “Are we still headed to Fort Leonard Wood?” Lieutenant Price asked.

              The Sarge looked to me and I nodded in the affirmative.

              “That's the plan,” he replied.

              “Then we need to find an airport or military installation soon. We're almost out of fuel.”

              The zombie that was once Dr. Parks stood just within the tree line watching the three of them. He was just close enough to the radio they had left in the trees to overhear their conversation. Other than a slight and continuous twitch he didn't move. It was forgetting to breathe again. An explosion brought it out of it's catatonic state and the zombie resumed breathing. The installation was no more.

Chapter 4

              After finishing off the sprinter Gina came back over to Cindy and I with a huge smile on her face. Just watching the way she sauntered over made me smile. She was getting really good with that sword but her cocky attitude was going to get her in trouble one of these days. I was going to have to find a way to talk to her about it without bringing her full wrath down on me. She was taking too many chances and every time we confronted a bunch of zombies I worried for her safety. In all honesty she had saved our asses several times and she had as of yet crossed the line into fool hearty. Maybe it was me. I needed to find a way to bring her down a notch and at the same time try to not worry so much. In other words, quit being such a grandma.

              “Did you like that honey?” Gina asked.

              “Oh that was nice. We need to find a quiet spot so you can pull my little panties down and spank my ass for me. You're my hero!”

              She threw the arm she held her sword in around my neck and pulled me in for a kiss. “You know it gets me hot when you talk to me like that.”

              “You two need to get a room,” Cindy said. She turned away and walked back to the truck.

              “What's wrong with her?” Gina said.

              “It did get a bit hairy just then. I think she's a little shook up.”

              “I guess you're right.” Gina pushed away from me and ran to catch Cindy. “Wait up.”

              I could see the Hummer coming down the street with just Al in it. He jumped the curb and pulled up next to the truck and got out. He was talking to the girls when I walked up.

              “Where's Rick?”

              “He took his new wheels for a joy ride.”

              “You really think this is a good time for any of us to be off on a jaunt?”

              “Don't get your bowels in an uproar. He's a big boy now Mildred. You need to let our boy be a grown-up.”

              Gina and Cindy howled with laughter. Can't say I blamed them. Al did have a way with words.

              “Actually I thought he'd be back here by now. The way he took off I was sure he'd beat me back.”

              Then I could hear him coming. I don't know which was louder. The squealing tires or the sound of the muffler. He came flying around the corner in a purple Dodge Challenger. I'm not much of a car buff but this baby was a classic. As he approached us he slammed on the brakes then eased it up over the curb. Then he stomped on the gas and did several donuts around us. I stood staring in disbelief.

              “Could you have found anything louder?”

              “I tried but this was the only thing I could find,” Al said.

              Rick stopped and got out of the car. “I love this car.” He started to walk over.

              “You may as well get back in. We can't stay here,” Gina said.

              “Every zombie in the area is probably headed here right now,” Cindy said.

              “We may as well get this show on the road. Go back to the hill over looking the motel,” Al said.  “Rick, try to drive like you have a little common sense.”

              It was funny to watch the smile disappear from Rick's face. Kind of looked like somebody letting the air out of a balloon. For a second I thought he was going to cry. Then he just turned around, got back in the car, and drove away.

              We looked out at the highway. It seemed all the noise Rick had made with his antics hadn't done a thing to trim down the crowd of zombies surrounding the motel. Al scanned the area with binoculars. When he was satisfied he had found a good shooting spot for Rick he took them away from his face and pointed to a building about a quarter of a mile from the tanker truck.

              “Drive down there to that car dealership. There's plenty of room to turn around down there so get your car facing back this way before you start shooting. When that truck blows, if it's full, there's going to be one hell of an explosion. Even if it's not full it should still blow pretty good. Get your ass back here as fast as you can.”

              “That's a long ways off. You think I can hit the tuck from there?”

              “Jesus Christ Rick you'll have Steve's 30-06. Can you do this or should we send one of the girls?”

              “I can. It's just a long shot, sorry.”

              “No, I'm sorry. Just keep shooting till you hit it. After you rupture the tanker you'll most likely need to shoot again to spark an explosion. Cindy and I will be on the other side of the motel blowing those cars. Wait until you hear three explosions before you start shooting.”

              “Al sometimes cars don't explode when you set them on fire. They just burn. Don't they?” I said.

              “That's why I'll be taking some grenades with me,” Al said with a smile.

              How could I have been so stupid. Of course Al would take this opportunity to throw some of his beloved grenades.

              “Steve you two stay up here and watch us with the binoculars. Radio silence unless you see something sneaking up on us. One of you watch Rick. The other keep a look-out for Cindy and me.” 

              “What if this location is compromised?” Gina asked.

              “Well aren't you the little special forces operative,” Al smirked at Gina when he said this.

              Gina gave Al a dirty look and I could see she was getting ready for a lengthy retort when Al held up both hands. He was learning. Sometimes surrender was the best course of action.

              “That's a good point. If this location is compromised,” he said in a slightly mocking tone. “Rally point the park. Omega, delta, one niner.”

              “What the hell does that mean?” I asked.

              “Whatever you want it to,” Al said and walked away. “Sounded good.”

              “Rick, that was my dad's rifle. Make sure I get it back,” I said.

              “I'll be really careful with it.”

              Cindy and Al took the hummer and Rick pulled away slowly in his new Challenger. The damn thing was still loud as hell and Gina and I would have to keep an eye out for zombies because of all the noise the exhaust system made. I could never understand the thrill people got from a loud car. Before all this happened I drove a Ford Mustang convertible it had a five liter engine and was fast as hell. But it was quiet. No glass pack muffler or anything like that. I didn't need people to hear me coming, just watch me fly on by.

              Cindy and Al were arguing about something when they got in the Hummer. We could see her giving him hell about something and Gina had to find out what was going on.

              “What's the problem Cindy,” Gina said into the radio.

              “Nothing, everything's fine,” Cindy answered.

              “If something's wrong we should be aware.”

              “You really want to know I'll tell you,” Cindy said. “This asshole won't let me throw any of the grenades.”

              “Al that's not nice. You need to learn to play well with others. Didn't your parents teach you about sharing?”

              “Fine, she can do one. That's all,” Al said. “Radio silence. Over.”

              Gina and I got our binoculars and started watching. She took Rick and I watched Cindy and Al. They made it to a spot close to the highway and got out and made their way to the road. Al tore a rag  up and started putting the strips into gas tanks while Cindy watched his back. I looked at Gina and she had her binoculars trained on the motel.

              “You're supposed to be watching Rick,” I said.

              “He's fine. I'm trying to see if I can spot any activity in the motel. It looks like the stairway to the second floor is blocked off. They must be up there.”

              I trained my binoculars on Rick to see how he was doing. His car was parked next to the car dealership. He had turned it around, like he'd been told to, and had it facing back towards us for a fast get away. Rick was crouched down behind the building holding his rifle in front of him waiting for the fun to start. I started to scan back to the motel when I spotted movement on the side of the car dealership. Four zombies were stumbling down the side of the building. In a minute they were going to be right on top of Rick.

              “Honey get your rifle. Rick's got trouble.”

              We each had one of Al's sniper rifles. Not that it would do us any good. Rick was at least a mile away and neither one of us had ever made a shot that far before. Gina and I should have been down on the highway. Al should have been up here. He would have been able to take all four of them out without a problem.

              “I just looked away. I swear,” Gina said.

              “No time for that now. Hand me the radio.”

              “Rick, put your rifle down and get your pistol out,” I said as quietly as I could into the radio. “You have four coming up behind you. After we shoot come around the side of the building and finish them off.”

              “I can't shoot that far,” Gina said.

              “Neither can I. Take the one in front. I'll try to hit the second one. You shoot first.”

              I watched Rick through my scope as he placed his rifle on the ground and got his pistol out. He stood with his back against the wall and looked up at us and nodded his head.

              “As soon as you're ready.”

              I placed my cross hairs on the head of the second zombie and waited for Gina to shoot. When I heard the report from her rifle I took a deep breath and fired. As soon as I got my shot off I could hear Rick open fire. I watched through my scope as Rick finished them off. I missed his first shot but watched him take down the next three. The man actually looked like he knew what he was doing. He walked calmly at them and fired only four times, all head shots.

              “Did we even hit anything?”

              “Yeah, the side of the building,” Gina said.

              “Is he okay?” Al's voice came over the radio.

              “Yeah dad, I'm fine,” Rick answered. “Did you see that Steve?”

              “That was some good shooting buddy.”

              “Yeah, I said to myself Rick it's time to man up, and I did. I said Rick, what would Al do? And that's what I did. Blew those fuckers away!”

              “Alright kids, calm down. Time to get back to work. We're going to light these up now. Rick get ready.”

              “You got it boss,” Rick said.

              Cindy stood back while Al went from car to car lighting the rags he had stuffed down the gas caps. He went to her and they both stood back waiting for something to happen. After a few minutes one of the cars caught fire. Nothing happened with the others and I watched as the two of them started arguing. Finally Cindy got on the radio and called us.

              “Looks like they're all out of gas. We're going to try the grenades.”

              Al pulled the pin on a grenade and threw it down the highway. It exploded and the two cars next to it started to burn. Some of the zombies surrounding the motel peeled off from the crowd and made their way towards the fire. He threw another grenade and got the same result. More of the zombies started their way. I could see Cindy getting ready to throw a grenade. She and Al were arguing when she pulled the pin and threw her grenade. It only went about twenty feet. Al tackled Cindy and covered her with his body seconds before it exploded. They both got to their feet, still arguing, and Cindy slapped him.

              “Should I shoot now?” Rick asked.

              “Did you hear three explosions?” Al hollered back over the radio.

              “Yes.”

              “Then shoot the fucking tanker.”

              I watched Rick through the scope of the sniper rifle as he took aim and fired. The resulting explosion threw him back onto the trunk of the Challenger. A huge ball of fire rose into the air and I could feel the temperature around me rising. Even though it was daytime the sky brightened drastically and for a few seconds I cast two shadows; one from the sun and the other from the fireball that now rose slowly into the sky until it finally dissipated.

              The Tanker truck was gone. In it's place was a huge crater. Fires from the abandoned cars that had been flung around by the explosion burned everywhere. A mass exodus was occurring. All the zombies, even the ones that had originally headed towards Al and Cindy, moved to the fires.

              “Rick that was one hell of a shot,” I said over the radio. I waited for a reply. “Rick, are you okay? Rick, come back.”

              Gina was scanning the area using her scope and brought the rifle down and looked at me. “I don't see him. The explosion knocked him back onto his car but I haven't seen him since.”

              “Al, Rick's not answering.”

              “Stay there,” Al said. “We'll go check on him.”